. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  G/TBT/N/FRA/113 
23 July 2010 
 (10-3976) 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:   French 
  
 
NOTIFICATION 
 
The following notification is being circ ulated in accordance with Article 10.6. 
 
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   FRANCE
 
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):  
2. Agency responsible:  
Direction Générale de l'Aménagement , du Logement et de la Nature  
(Directorate-General for Pla nning, Housing and Nature) 
Direction de l'Habitat, de l'Urbanisme et des Paysages 
(Housing, Urban Planning and Landscape Department) 
Sous-Direction de la Qualité et du Dével oppement Durable dans la Construction  
(Unit for Quality and Sustainable Development in Construction) 
Bureau de la Qualité Technique et de la Réglementación Technique de la Construction 
(Office for the Technical Quality and Technical Regulation of Construction) 
Arche Sud - 92055 LA DEFENSE cedex FRANCE 
Name and address (including telephone  and fax numbers, e-mail and website 
addresses, if available) of  agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be  indicated if different from above:  
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10.1 [ ], 5.6.2 [ ], 5.7.1 [ ], other:  
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.  
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):   Building shell 
components, heating systems, domestic hot water systems, cooling systems, equipment for 
generating energy using renewable energy sources, ventilation systems, lighting systems. 
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   Décret relatif aux 
caractéristiques thermiques et à la p erformance énergétique des constructions  
(Decree concerning the thermal characteris tics and energy performance of buildings) 
(3 pages) 
6. Description of content:   The notified draft Decree defines the indicators that are to provide 
the basis for regulatory requirements on energy performance and their scope.  The implementation dates for the requirements define d by Order are specified for each category 
of new building. G/TBT/N/FRA/113 
Page 2  
 
  7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable:  
The Framework Law of 13 July 2005 outlini ng French energy policy seeks to reduce CO
2 
emissions from the building sector by 75 per cent by 2050.  The Law of 3 August 2009 
concerning the implementation of the resu lts of the Environmental Round Table ( Grenelle 
de l'environnement ) supplemented and clarified targets for the energy performance of new 
buildings.  It most notably sets the target of reducing the average annual energy 
consumption of new buildings to 50 kWh/m2.  Thermal regulation requirements must 
therefore be enhanced so as to reduce ener gy consumption and resulting inequalities and 
improve household purchasing power.  It must be  ensured that all new buildings attain a 
very high energy performance level, therefore consuming very low levels of energy, with a 
view to complying with the "positive energy" concept in 2020.  Within the framework of 
the transposition of Directive 2010/31/EU of 19 May 2010 on the energy performance of buildings, regulatory provisions on the energy  performance of new buildings must be made 
clear.  The purpose of the draft Decree is to define these regulatory requirements in technical terms. 
8. Relevant documents:  
• Directive 2010/31/EU of 19 May 2010 on the energy performance of buildings; 
• Directive 2009/28/EC of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from 
renewable sources; 
• Loi n° 2009-967 du 3 août 2009 de programmation relative à la mise en oeuvre du 
Grenelle de l'environnement  (Law No. 2009-967 of 3 August 2009 concerning the 
implementation of the results of the Environmental Round Table); 
• Code de la construction et de l'habitation  (Building and housing code) 
(Articles L.111-9, L.134-2, L.151-1, *R.111-2, R.111-20, R.131-28, *R.111-2, R.111-6, R.111-20); 
• Code de l'urbanisme  (Urban planning code) (Article R.112-2); 
• Decree No. 92-647 of 8 July 1992, as ame nded, concerning the suitability for use 
of construction products; 
• Decree No. 95-21 of 9 January 1995 concer ning the classification of land transport 
infrastructure and amending the urban pl anning and building and housing codes; 
• Order of 30 May 1996 c oncerning procedures for the classification of land 
transport infrastructure and the soundproofing of residential buildings in areas affected by noise. 
9. Proposed date of adoption: 
Proposed date of entry into force:   1 December 2010 
1 July 2011 
10. Final date for comments:   60 days 
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry  point [X] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers, e-mail and website addresses,  if available of the other body: 
National enquiry point 
CINORTECH 
AFNOR 11 avenue Francis de Pressensé 93571 SAINT-DENIS-LA PLAINE cedex 
Also available at:  http://members.wto.org/crnatt achments/2010/tbt/fra/10_2856_00_f.pdf